


The Ex

by ObstinateHeadstrongGirl8



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-08
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:49:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27448147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObstinateHeadstrongGirl8/pseuds/ObstinateHeadstrongGirl8
Summary: Josh X Donna Fic! Angst! Canonverse. Set 3 years after the Finale!What happens after Donna gets coffee with an old flame and Josh finds out? Is the pull of an old love too strong for even them? Find out!
Relationships: Josh Lyman/Donna Moss
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	The Ex

Chapter 1:

“Josh. I need to talk to you about something,” Donna said as she arrived home to the apartment she and Josh shared. 

As she put her coat on the rack and her briefcase on the desk, she saw Josh sitting on the sofa, trying to get through the pages and pages of memos that needed to be read by morning.

“Is it about how the Republican Senate is trying to screw me with my pants on because trust me that is something I’m keenly aware of…”

“Josh, I’m being serious,” she called out from the bedroom where she had started to change into something more casual.

“So am I! Seriously, I wish you could have been in that meeting today and seen the absolute shiii..”

“Josh.”

Donna walked back into the living room and sat next to Josh on the couch, now wearing one of Josh’s old Met’s shirts and some sweats. 

“…Right, sorry,” Josh said finally closing the folders and setting them on the coffee table. He looked up at her softly. “So what’s up?”

“I saw someone today. And I was debating not telling you at all that I saw this person because it didn’t mean anything and I didn’t want you to spiral and become all together way too Josh-like for your own good but then I figured roles were reversed and you didn’t tell me I would be rightly angry with you so I figured I should tell you…”

“Donna… Now you’re the one spiraling.”

“Right. Okay, well here goes… I saw Andrew today.”

“Your ex-boyfriend, Andrew?”

“Yes.”

“Dr. Freeride?”

“Yes.”

“The guy that let you drop of college to pay for his schooling and then ditched you only to later get back together with you and then ditch you again after leaving you in the hospital after a car accident to get beer with his friends?”

“Yes.”

“The guy who…”

“Josh!”

“Donna!”

They both sat silent for a moment. Josh got up from the couch and started to pace.

“When did you see him?”

“Mrs. Santos wanted some time with her kids this morning so I had time to go get a cup of coffee at that place I like and he was there and he saw me and said hello.”

“So he just said hello.”

“He said hello and then he sat down at my table to catch up.”

“So this morning you had a long leisurely conversation with you ex over coffee?”

“See this is why I didn’t want to tell you! Because I knew you would think it was something that it wasn’t!”

“Something it wasn’t? You had coffee with your ex this morning and didn’t tell me about it till tonight which I guess I should be happy with since you weren’t even planning on telling me about it at all!”

“Josh, it was maybe a twenty-minute conversation and I didn’t tell you about it before now because you have been going at warp speed all day and I didn’t want to add to it! Don’t make this into a thing.”

“It already is a thing!” Josh huffed. “Did you know he was going to be there?”

“You have got to be kidding me right now.”

“Did you know he was going to be there? It just seems odd that of all the coffee shops in all the cities he just happened to walk into your favorite while you were there.”

“I’m not dignifying that with a response.”

“That’s not an answer…”

“Why are you getting so crazy about this!” Donna yelled. “You work with your ex every single day and I have not said one word about it.”

“Who?” Josh yelled back.

“Amy.”

“Oh…”

Sometimes Josh forgot that Amy was even an ex. Their romance had been so short-lived, filled with so many breakups and pauses, that he hardly remembered a time when they weren’t just colleagues, but clearly Donna hadn’t forgotten. 

“You see Amy all the time, you spend late nights and long hours with her,” Donna continued. “And I have never once brought it up before because I trust you. I trust you and your decisions. After all of this time, why can’t you just trust me?”

“Donna…” Josh said, walking back over to her.

Donna threw her hands up as if they could physically stop the words that were about to come out of Josh’s mouth or the tears that were welling up in her eyes. 

“Stop. Okay? It was obviously not the right time to bring this up. You have a lot of reading to get through and I have to be up in like five hours,” Donna said looking at her watch. “I’m flying to Denver tomorrow with the first Lady for that women’s panel. I’ll be back late tomorrow night and we can talk then but for right now I need to sleep.”

Josh looked at her and nodded, wondering how this night had turned ugly so quickly. 

“Goodnight,” Donna said quickly. She went into their bedroom and turned off the lights. She knew that she probably wouldn’t get to sleep after what had just happened, but she just couldn’t face him anymore.

Meanwhile, Josh turned back to his memos, desperately trying to concentrate on the work at hand and not the look on Donna’s face when she left the room. 

He dozed off at some point, though he can’t remember when. The next morning he woke up ready to apologize and tell Donna he was sorry for being such a complete and total idiot. 

But by the time his alarm went off, she was already gone. 

End of Chapter 1


End file.
